Free The Meowmorphosis by Franz Kafka Page A

against the cold of the world! I recall in my life as a man I was hounded from place to place, imprecated with accusations and harangued by men I did not know—what’s worse, when I desired a female I could almost never have her; if I wanted drink I would almost certainly have to endure the harsh looks of my landlady; and all day long my vital energy was sapped by folk who had no natural right to it—my employers, my debtors, my parents—everyone, in short, but myself, the one with the most interest in spending it!I know what you will say, kitten: Do not I have to worry now that some other cat might happen upon me in an alley, bite my ear or sever my tail, have some secret argument with me which I know nothing about, so that I must walk in fear every moment that doom in the form of a Persian or a Siamese might fall on me from the night? Well, certainly, certainly, but this is only the way of the world and one cannot blame the world for continuing in its way. If two cats in black fur appear to escort me away from my provender and to some dank hole where they might assail me more conveniently, well, at least I have a fighting chance to claw their eyes out in turn, where I promise you, in the world of men you will get no such opportunity!”
    This entire speech the tabby Josef K delivered by means of a few long, plaintive meows, a bit of purring, and some kneading of his impressive paws against the base of the monument. The rest Gregor understood through his nose and his whiskers, which was, he felt, a most extraordinary thing.
    “I am Gregor Samsa,” he essayed the technique himself, and found that though he worried about his accent the whole thing was as natural to him as folding a newspaper under his arm and hopping onto the commuter train in the morning had been not so very long ago. “And until Tuesday last I was a traveling salesman, though I could not begin to explain why I should happen to find myself no longer a traveling salesmanbut, as you see and hear, a very round and furry kitten—or cat, as I seem to be growing at a rapid rate—and as you say nothing about how you came to be the tabby Josef K instead of the bank clerk Josef K, I presume you know nothing about it either, but we are both in the same predicament and in a position to help each other—you to provide introduction for myself into the society of cats, and myself perhaps to provide some understanding of men that you have forgotten, being so long separated from your own transformation.” It seemed to him that endless sentences were the natural formulations of the feline tongue, for he did not feel capable of putting an end to any thought at all before he had appended seven or eight more onto the rear of it.
    The tabby Josef K stood up and arched his back, stretching first one hind leg and then the other. Two other cats silently arrived and flanked him, their fur cream colored and close fitting with deep brown accents upon their ears and tails and paws. Their pelts were silky and flat, unlike his own unruly coat. They all purred, disconcertingly, in unison. Josef K said:
    “Instead, while my comrades Franz and Willem accompany you—say good evening, gentlemen—no, I’m afraid you cannot resist, as I informed you in my earlier statement we cats do long to be together at all times and in all ways, and you are very fortunate that I and my fellows here are so eager and willing to be together in a heap with your own person—you are,you must admit, both a newcomer and a foreigner, and might have it much worse if you understand my meaning, which I think you must. While we all three of us go very efficiently and directly to the Academy for your trial, I will recall an incident from my youth. Did I say your trial? I meant your conviction. Did I say your conviction? I meant your execution. Did I say execution? No, no, good sir, I meant only your introduction to society.” The cream-colored cats pressed in on him so closely that Gregor felt himself